


The 20th Cycle

by FourFaces



Series: Adventure Zone Cycles [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 16:04:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14918501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FourFaces/pseuds/FourFaces
Summary: The Starblaster Crew arrives in a planar system inhabited by super-powered beings. Unfortunately their timing couldn't be worse.Infinity War spoilers A-hoy!





	The 20th Cycle

**Author's Note:**

> Wow I haven't written Marvel characters in ages so ... apologies in advance for any OOC-ness!
> 
> There will be angst. Because Infinity War.

This planar system, at first glance, was mostly inhabited by humans and non-sapient animals. Most of them seemed to be mundane, simply living their lives and fighting amongst each other. It was only on close inspection that the crew of the Starblaster learned that some of the humans did indeed possess abilities similar to magic.

The Light of Creation landed in a jungle in the southern part of the world. Davenport steered the Starblaster in the direction that Barry triangulated, steering towards the thick jungle that crept up the mountain …

Only for the ship to strike a barrier.

“What the hell, Cap’nport?” Taako growled.

“This … this isn’t a real jungle!” Davenport cried out as the ship skidded towards the ground.

The ship pulled up sharply as Davenport steered it away from the ground. It skidded to a halt, digging a deep trench into the ground. The crew gathered on the deck to look back at the barrier.

It shimmered, briefly.

“What the hell is with this plane?” Taako yelled.

“It’s some sort of force field,” Barry concluded. “Though … That jungle was there before the Light landed so it couldn’t have done … this.”

As he spoke, part of the jungle literally opened up. The crew watched from the deck of the ship as several dark-skinned, human women, clad in red and gold, form fitting armor, poured out of the opening, spears drawn. Behind them came a dark skinned man dressed in a black robe.

It was decided that Lucretia and Magnus would go out to talk with them. The crew watched as the pair left the ship, the women eyeing them carefully.

“Hail and well met!” Magnus smiled. “We don’t mean any harm! We are just looking for a light that fell into … well … whatever that really is because that sure as hell isn't a jungle!”

The man pondered this for a moment and then turned to one of the warriors.

“At ease.”

The women moved in one fluid motion and stood, spears at their sides.

“You saw the light then,” the man continued. “My sister was looking to study it. Is it yours then?”

“Sort of …” Magnus began.

“We aren't from here,” Lucretia interrupted.

“I gathered that.”

She blushed.

“We er… we come from a different planet system and that light is a herald of something that will come and destroy that plane, unless we can take it with us when we leave.”

“Explain,” the warrior closest to the man stated, her body becoming tense.

“There is this … thing. It's called The Hunger. Well, that's what we call it. It has been chasing after us, and the light of creation, for twenty cycles now. It destroys every plane it has come in contact with, unless we are able to leave with the light at the end of the cycle. If we can get a hold of the light and take it with us when The Hunger comes then … well … then when it arrives, your plane will still be safe. You will still have to fight but you will live.”

The man pondered for a moment.

“Our first week of our new policy, and this is what it comes down to,” the warrior next to him grumbled. “When we were opening up to the world, I didn't expect this.”

“Okoye,” the man chided with a twinkle in his eye.

Lucretia looked to Magnus and then back to the ship which dropped its shield. Her companions began to emerge, Lup bounding up to her.

“We couldn't help but overhear, but … did he say that they were also studying the Light of Creation?” Lup grinned.

The man froze and then laughed.

“Oh, my sister is definitely going to want to meet you. Come.”

~

Shuri had often read fantasy novels with a slight wish that they were real. Sure, she enjoyed science fiction, but living in Wakanda meant that it quickly got outdated, usually after she figured out how to make science fiction a science reality.

Magic and wizards, however, was something that she still has never personally witnessed.

It was understandable, now, that the moment she saw Lup and Taako, she immediately brought them into her lab with an excitement usually reserved for showing her brother a new, technological breakthrough. Barry followed close behind, eager to see what this world held.

To Barry, Shuri’s lab was Candyland (and not like the Cycle where everything and everyone was made out of candy - that cycle still disturbed him). He gaped at the equipment that was so far ahead of anything he had ever seen, on his home plane or otherwise.

“We have the Light over in a special section of the lab,” Shuri explained to Lup and she led them down a hallway that was separate from the rest of the lab. “We weren’t sure what its makeup was so we decided to keep it away from other projects. Perhaps later we can compare notes?”

“Of course, love,” Lup grinned, eager to get started. “Barold! Let’s get started! We’ve got a whole cycle to spend in this wonderland of tech!”

Barry found himself staring at Lup. The excitement that came off of her was electrifying. He felt heat rise to his cheeks and hoped that she didn’t notice the blush.

“Uh … yeah … Let’s get started,” he grinned.

Lup grabbed his hand and the pair froze for a moment. Their eyes met again. An awkward silence stretched between them before Lup giggled, pulling Barry into the lab that housed the Light.

Taako watched the pair go off, realizing that it was true. His sister had it bad for Barry.

He wondered how long it would take the two dinguses to realize that they loved each other.

“So, you’re an elf,” Shuri started with a grin, snapping Taako out of his thoughts.

“Uh … yeah …”

“Do you mind coming with me? This is fascinating and I need to know more! I have a table that I have used for medical procedures and if I can calibrate it to your specific biometrics. Also, it’s not every day that you get to learn about elves!”

Taako looked back towards the lab that his sister had disappeared into as he was dragged towards another lab. He regretted getting off the ship now.

~

Magnus was enraptured by the Dora Milaje.

He watched their training exercises eagerly. They moved as one, hypnotizing unit.

He had to train with them.

He waited until after the warriors took a break during the fifth session he watched before he approached the general.

“E-excuse me, ma’am?” He asked.

She looked at him.

“Erm … I couldn’t help but notice … You’re all so skilled … What … what does it take to become a member of the Dora Milaje?”

She smiled.

“Ah, you’re interested? Well, we don’t normally train outsiders and you’re going to be leaving in less than a year but -”

“I fought a Power Bear once.”

With that, the general laughed, her serious composure melting away.

“A Power Bear?”

“Yeah,” Magnus grinned, sheepishly.

As her laughter melted away, she took in the visitor’s appearance. It would be hard work, training someone like him to be as agile as the rest of the Dora Milaje, but there were no wars and no conflicts on the horizon.

This would be a fun project.

“Alright. I’ll train you.”

“Thank you general!” Magnus chirped.

“Call me Okoye.”

~

Merle could feel the energy in the garden, even though the plants had long since died.

“All of them were burned?”

“All except one, which restored our king,” the woman who tended the gardens explained. “We have been trying to restore it, but I’m afraid …”

“I … I can help,” Merle began. “Or at least, I can try. I can’t promise anything but …”

“It is …” the woman sighed. “It is alright if you cannot.”

Merle sat and looked at the charred remains of the plants.

New life had to appear soon. It just had to.

He could almost feel the souls of the plants that had been destroyed. He could feel the pain and the anguish at lives that were cut short.

He also felt something else. Something similar to the feeling he felt when he would commune with Pan.

But this wasn’t Pan.

~

Taako watched as Magnus trained.

He was clumsy, compared to the more skilled warriors, but he was getting there.

Taako found himself a little entranced as he watched him spar with the Okoye. He felt himself blush a little as Magnus grinned when he finally overpowered the General, momentarily, only for him to immediately be overtaken again.

“Always stay on guard, Magnus,” she chided.

Taako chuckled.

“Yeah, pay better attention next time, Maggie!”

“Do you want to join in?” the General called to the elf.

“Hell no!” Taako laughed. “Taako’s good over here!”

“Suit yourself.”

As he watched Magnus spar some more, the blush returned.

Taako was definitely good over here.

~

Lup snapped herself awake, realizing that she had started to snooze while studying the Light. She looked over to see Barry, passed out on the table. His face was smashed into the table top, glasses askew and mouth slightly open. His sleeping form was illuminated by the soft glow of the Light of Creation.

He was beautiful.

Lup felt heat rise to her cheeks but she couldn’t look away. She had thought he was attractive, for a human (even if he was a nerd), for some time now. However those feelings of “This human is attractive” had started truly evolving during the cycle on the Robot World. Now, she was realizing just how hopelessly in love she was becoming.

She wanted to go and find Taako. She wanted to complain to him. To have him talk some sense into her.

But she couldn’t tear her gaze away from Barry’s sleeping form.

She gently lifted her chair and set it down closer to Barry’s. She sat, quietly, and watched him sleep. His glasses were starting to bend under the weight of his head, so she carefully pulled them off of his face and folded them up next to him.

“Oh Barold,” she chuckled softly.

He snored loudly in response. She smiled, gently touching his hair, and then rose again to look for a blanket.

When she returned, heavy woolen blanket in her arms, she paused at the doorway.

What was she even doing?

She had an image to uphold. She was Lup. She was aloof, just like her brother. She couldn’t get close to anyone like this.

But after 20 years, could she even really help it?

She draped the blanket over Barry’s shoulders and sat back down next to him, folding her arms over the table and resting her head atop them.

She and Taako had just turned seventy when they had started the mission. That was still so young for an Elf.

Barry was almost halfway through a human lifespan, even before the mission.

There was no way this could be anything after they finally broke out of these cycles.

She sighed and looked at him.

Maybe she could talk to Taako about it in the morning.

As she drifted off into slumber, she thought she could hear a contented sigh from her lab partner.

A girl could dream.

~

It was five months into the cycle when everything went to hell.

Lup and Barry were in the middle of a breakthrough on the Light of Creation when Magnus came in, dressed in Vibranium armor.

“Apparently something is coming,” he explained after the crew had gathered in the lab, sans Merle who was still working on restoring the Garden of the Heart Shaped Herb. “Something huge.”

“The Hunger isn’t due for another seven months,” Lucretia started.

“No. But apparently this entire planar system is in peril because of this -” Magnus lifted his wrist, pulling up one of the beads on his wrist. He pressed on the bead and an image flickered into existence. The image of a bald headed man.

“Huh,” Barry started. “I mean … if he thinks he’s more dangerous than the Hunger -”

“He has a gauntlet that apparently will give him the power to eliminate half of the population on this prime material plane. At least. It’s powered by stones. One of them is on it’s way here to be protected.”

“Which I assume you’ll be doing,” Taako grumbled.

“Taako …”

“No, I get it. You want to protect everyone. Just … don’t try to do it alone this time, OK,” Taako sighed. “I’ll … I’ll cover you. The Wonder Nerds are going to be busy with the Light anyway.”

“Hey!” Lup snapped.

“No, Taako’s right. You two need to be here with the Light. We can’t have it falling into the wrong hands. This plane is doomed without it.”

Lup looked over at Barry who was suddenly very interested in his hands.

“That’s fine,” she laughed. “Barold and I can get to know each other better! Create some more bonds!”

Barry flushed bright red, something that did not go unnoticed by the twins.

With that, the plan began to form. They only had days to prepare, but with the help of the IPRE, everyone was confident that they might be able to win this battle.

~

They were dead wrong.

Magnus watched in horror as some of the women he had trained with were torn down by the monstrous creatures that had charged out of the giant ships that had dropped from the sky. He couldn’t protect all of them. He could barely protect himself.

The creatures moved erratically, without real purpose like the Hunger’s armies. They were like a horde of wild animals. They were aimless and out for blood.

ZAP!

Magnus whirled around as a beam of light shot one of the creatures away from him. He turned to look and see a man in a giant mechanical suit of armor. The man reminded him a lot of Barry - someone who he could really use right now.

“On your left!” A lilting voice called out, trying to mask his panic.

Magnus ducked out of the way as another one of the creatures leaped towards him. A magic missile met the creature, several silvery bolts splitting it into pieces.

“Thanks, Taako,” Magnus smiled.

“Don’t mention it , dude.”

~

Merle sat in the Garden. He was unaware of the carnage outside, but he could sense that something was off.

He couldn’t leave, though. He thought he might have made a breakthrough.

They were still there. The plants could be saved, he knew it. He was just completely unfamiliar with this magic. With this deity.

His prayers were interrupted by a sudden shockwave.

Then deafening silence.

He looked around.

Something was wrong.

Something was very, very wrong.

He didn’t feel so good.

~

Magnus and Taako were flung into each other when it happened.

They had followed the group of humans (and other assorted creatures - a fucking tree?) into the jungle when they saw the man step out of the rift. Magnus’ blood had run cold as he watched the man rewind time, just after the stone they were trying to protect had been destroyed. He watched as the man pried the stone out of the automaton's head.

He watched the man snap.

The world was still.

“What the fuck was that?” Taako asked. “Did … Did we lose?”

Magnus felt off.

He looked down at his hand.

“Taako?” He asked.

Taako whipped around and his heart clenched in his chest.

Magnus was disintegrating.

Magnus was disintegrating and there was nothing he could do.

He’d never died like this. He’d never died this early in the cycle.

“Magnus … Magnus no!” Taako cried out.

Magnus tried to walk towards him.

Then he was gone.

Taako was frozen. He waited, expecting it to happen to him next.

Nothing.

He looked around. The tree, the King, the man with wings … They all suffered the same fate. The woman who they called the witch disintegrated with a shocked look on her face.

He had to get back to the Starblaster. He had to see if the rest of his family …

“What the hell happened?” He heard a voice ask.

“Thanos … he … he eliminated half of the universe’s population,” The god of thunder began

Half … That meant ...

“How many Sun Elves are on this plane?” Taako muttered.

The thunder god looked at him.

“What?”

“How many Sun Elves?”

“Well, until recently they were extinct. You and your sister -”

Taako broke into a run, sprinting towards the city.

~

“So, I think if we try cloaking its’ signal somehow, it could buy us time,” Barry started.

“That could work. Though, it has this unnatural pull. I think it wants to be wanted,” Lup continued.

“Yeah … If only there was some-”

The world seemed to stop.

“W-what was that?” Barry asked.

“Hmm … No clue,” Lup began.

She felt something stirring inside her. Normally she would have written it off as butterflies in her stomach but something about this felt wrong.

She looked up at Barry who was about to poke the light with one of the tools they had been given.

She looked down at her hands. Hairline cracks were forming in them, as if she was a river bank that had dried up.

She looked back up at Barry.

“Uh … Barold?”

Barry looked up at her and gasped.

“Lup! What’s going on?!”

“I don’t know! I … I think … Barry …” She knew but she didn’t want to say it. She didn’t want it to be real. She didn’t want to leave now. She’d never gone this early in a cycle.

But she could see the pain and heartbreak in Barry’s eyes. She tried to smile.

“Well, see you next cycle, Barold …”

And then she was gone.

Barry ran to her as she disintegrated into dust. He cradled the remains, tears spilling from his eyes.

He knew how he felt. Of course he did.

But he hadn’t said anything.

He couldn’t say anything.

He knew she would be back. Of course she would. As long as there was someone there at the end of the cycle to take the Starblaster out, then she would return.

But this soon ...

He hadn’t been without his lab partner this early before.

Then another thought popped into his mind.

Taako.

What was he going to do without his sister?

Taako had died once without Lup and Lup was crushed, but with the help of the rest of the crew, Lup had been able to make it the entire cycle. She was the older twin (by minutes) and Taako hung on her every word.

Barry didn’t want to lose him too.

When the door slammed open, Barry looked up to see Taako standing there, nearly out of breath. He wasn’t sure how long he had been curled up on the floor, holding the remaining dust, but Taako’s expression said everything.

Taako stiffly walked over to Barry. Their eyes met and Taako collapsed to his knees.

Barry pulled him in close and held the elf as he wept, bitterly.

Barry couldn’t cry anymore. There were no more tears to cry.

~

Barry, Lucretia, Taako and Davenport.

There were four left.

Merle had been alone when it happened. Davenport and Lucretia felt guilty. They should have been with him instead of at the Starblaster. They hadn’t even been involved in as much of the action. The Starblaster was nowhere as interesting to the invaders as the automaton with the stone in his head had been.

They could have helped.

“You know what? Fuck this planar system!” Taako cried out.

They had gathered in the galley of the Starblaster, Taako cooking through stress and anger.

“Taako …”

“We can just drop it in the ocean and then scram when the Hunger gets here. Fuck ‘em all.”

“Lup wouldn’t have wanted that, Taako,” Barry gritted. “Magnus wouldn’t have wanted it. Merle-”

“Well, they’re fucking GONE and we’ve got seven months until it resets. No one has died this early in a long time … Lulu hasn’t …”

“I know,” Lucretia started. “But … we can’t doom a planar system because of this. It … It’s not what they would have wanted and you know it …”

Taako sat on the floor and curled in over himself.

“We need to help them,” Barry started. “We can help them find Thanos and reverse this … or something … We have to help them.”

“But we can’t just put everything on hold,” Davenport started. “We need to be here for when the Hunger arrives. We can’t put that on hold -”

“There’s four of us,” Lucretia chimed in. “We could split up. Half of us can go and help with the search for Thanos and the other half stays with the ship. Then, if we haven’t found Thanos by the end of the year, those who are on the ship can get us and the light out of this planar system and … At least half of this world will be safe …”

“No offense,” Davenport sighed, “But I will have to stay with the ship. None of you quite know how to get it up and out of the planar system like I do.”

“I’m going,” Barry volunteered. “I can’t really study the light anymore this cycle,” And it hurts to look at it because she was dying and I was just studying it and I never told her “And I’m pretty skilled if they need magic or fighting so …”

“I’ll go too,” Taako whispered.

“Taako,” Barry sighed.

“Rage is a good motivator. Pain is too. And I’m in pain, Barold. I lost my sister. I lost Magnus. I … I want them back.”

Barry wanted to put a hand on the elf’s shoulder, but everything about his posture let him know that it would only make his anger worse.

Barry was a reminder to Taako. He was a reminder of what he had lost.

In a way, Taako was a reminder for Barry, but he didn’t want to think about it.

If they could get to Thanos, then they could truly save this planar system.

~

The Thunder God had taken them to another world in a beam of light.

This was the best lead they had on where the Mad Titan was.

When they arrived on the desolate world, a man in a battered red and gold suit of armor rose to his feet. His face was gaunt and worn. Next to him stood a blue woman who looked more automaton than flesh and blood.

“Thor,” the man simply stated.

“I am glad you are alive, friend Stark.”

The man motioned to Taako and Barry.

“Who, uh … who are they?”

“Friends,” Thor started. “They are going to help me find Thanos.”

“Just missed him,” Stark continued. “Dr. Idiot gave him the time stone and now …”

He looked down at his hands. Barry could see that they were covered in the same dust that Lup had disintegrated into. His heart clenched.

“Who did you lose?” Barry asked, quietly.

“I'm sorry, who are you?” Stark snapped.

“B-Barry Bluejeans. I'm with the IPRE. We've been on an interplanar expedition and … we've also lost people,” he said, looked to Taako who was still seething.

“Where the fuck is that purple asshole?” Taako growled. “I have a few magic missiles with his name on them.”

The armored man blinked and then laughed, bitterly.

“What the hell?” he laughed. “A goddamn elf?”

“Yes, Friend Stark,” Thor began. “His sister was one of the casualties of Thanos, as was his lover. This man was his sister’s lover as well.”

Barry blushed deeply, too flustered to correct him.

If Taako had been in his normal state of mind, he would have raised an eyebrow.

“We weren’t-” Barry started.

“Well, I don’t have any clue where Grimace is,” Tony sighed. “But maybe the God of Thunder here can at least get us off the planet.”

Thor nodded sagely.

“Unfortunately, I can’t think of any other places that he might be, but we can begin our search.”

“We only have about six months though,” Barry began. “If we don’t find him soon, then Taako and I need to head back to help everyone prepare for The Hunger.”

“The what now?” Tony blinked.

As Barry explained the purpose of the IPRE’s revamped mission, Taako couldn’t help but feel a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

This cycle was not going to end with them defeating Thanos.

This planar system would be on it’s own with him.

~

Davenport was the one who saw the notes first.

Lup had left her notes, nearly pristine, on the table before she …

He read through them, looking at notes in the margins about her lab partner. The notes were from the last couple of cycles, but there was a definite change after their eighteenth cycle.

The notes about Barry were fonder. Less teasing. Less clinical.

He stashed away the thoughts he had, hoping to test it in a later cycle.

They had to leave this one. They had to.

Lup and Magnus couldn’t be gone forever.

Merle couldn’t be gone forever.

He looked over at Lucretia who was still scribbling away in her journal for this cycle. He had seen her writing furiously for many cycles, of course, but with this one, her countenance seemed different.

She was writing as if everyone’s lives depended on it.

“Lucretia, I can keep your journals safe if you need to get some rest,” he had said one evening, during the ninth month of the cycle.

Lucretia’s eyes were heavy, dark circles under her eyes. She had been in her mid twenties when she started the mission (human ages were so strange to him, so he couldn’t even keep straight how old she was, much less Magnus or Barry), but as this cycle wore on, she had started looking older and older. Her white hair was less shocking as her youthful appearance faded.

“It’s alright,” she started. “I … I need to do this. I need to remember how this cycle has made me feel. How it has made all of us feel.”

Davenport smiled sadly and walked over to her.

“Please, Luce,” he began, softly. “You need to sleep. I promise nothing will happen to them.”

Lucretia reluctantly retreated to her room, leaving Davenport alone with her journals and the notes on the Light.

He wanted to look through Lucretia’s notes, but when he began to open the journal, a sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

He didn’t feel right doing this.

He set her journal down and then continued looking through Lup’s notes. As he read, he hoped even more that they would be able to escape this planar system.

Another bond was going to form and their engine would run stronger.

~

During the eleventh month, they finally found him.

Thor had gotten a lead on a world that was lush, green, and sparsely populated.

On that world, there was word of a lone man who would often sit by himself, just watching the sky. The description of a man with a scarred hand, fused with gold and gems, was enough to confirm it.

The battle with him was fiercer than Barry was prepared for. He was an expert in magic, yes, but this was different. This was otherwordly. He deflected Barry's spells with ease, no matter how much he threw at him. He was running out of spell slots and time.

Taako attacked in a blind rage and paid for it dearly. Thanos grabbed the elf by the neck and threw him against a tree.

Barry watched his eyes glass over as he slumped to the ground, spine broken.

Thor was summoning the Bifrost. They needed more help.

Barry couldn’t just leave Taako’s body.

As he ran to Taako’s lifeless form, he felt blinding hot pain tear through him.

Then nothing.

~

They had to leave.

They couldn’t wait any longer and there was no sign of Barry or Taako.

Davenport watched as Lucretia stared out the front of the Starblaster. It rose from the ground, the Light of Creation safe with them.

This plane would survive.

“They’ll be back, Luce,” Davenport smiled, sadly. “We’ll see them soon.”

She simply nodded and watched as The Hunger descended. Those that could be warned were hidden away.

Those that chose to fight were ready.

Strings of light pulled at Lucretia and Davenport.

They closed their eyes.

When they opened them, everyone was in their recorded states. Magnus looked around, shock on his face as his black eye winced.

Merle stared at his hands, checking them over.

Lup and Taako’s hands were still clasped and they looked to each other, pulling one another into a tight embrace before they looked over at Barry and Magnus, respectively. Taako pulled away from Lup and ran to Magnus, hugging him tightly before slugging him on the shoulder.

Barry stared at Lup.

When their eyes met, Lup tried to smile.

“What did I tell ya? Here we are, the next cycle.”

Barry smiled back.

He knew now what he felt.

He just didn’t know if he could say it.


End file.
